A legendary benefit reading of Larry Kramer’s play The Normal Heart will be released as an audiobook later this year.
Simon & Schuster Audio will publish a recording of the 1993 reading introduced by Barbra Streisand, and starring Kevin Bacon, Stockard Channing, and more, the press announced in a news release.
The late Kramer’s autobiographical play, now considered a modern classic of LGBTQ+ literature, follows Ned Weeks, a gay activist trying to bring attention to the AIDS crisis in the early days of the epidemic. The play debuted at The Public Theater in 1985, and soon after was staged in London and Los Angeles; it made its Broadway debut in 2011, winning the Tony Award for best revival of a play.
In 1993, Streisand introduced a reading of the play to benefit ACT UP New York’s Treatment + Data Committee. Readers included Bacon, Channing, John Turturro, Harry Hamlin, Eric Bogosian, and D.W. Moffett. Royalties and performer fees from the audiobook edition will go to the nonprofit organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Danny Whitman, the executive director of Broadway Cares, said in a statement, “The Normal Heart chronicles the devastating early years of the AIDS crisis, the very moment that inspired the creation of Broadway Cares….We’re deeply moved that this powerful piece will continue to provide lifesaving medication, healthcare and hope for people living with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses today.”
The audiobook edition of the reading will be released on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
